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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Patol Posto ~ Parwal/Pointed Gourd cooked in Poppy Seed Paste

All knows that bengali people have a love affair with Posto or
poppy seeds or khus Khus. Especially me, I can't live without this spice, just
love it with anything and everything. If you ask anyone, bengali recipe of Posto or poppy
seed, everybody will say ,"Aloo posto/potatoes in poppy seed paste",
as only this one is the most well known bengali posto recipe. But we, bengalis,
use posto with every possible way, some of them I posted before. I"ll
share another unusual/not so famous recipe of posto with Patol or pointed
gourd, Which we call "Patol posto/pointed gourd in poppy seed paste".
In bengali cuisine, posto is used all year round, but specially in summer it is
used more, as posto has a cooling effect on body. Poppy seed has lots of
medicinal properties, too.

Wash each parwal. First, trim the edges and then peel the skin every 1/2 inch apart. Then cut into 4 pieces lengthwise. Apply 1 tsp. turmeric powder and a pinch of salt on all the parwals and keep them aside for 10 minutes.

For grinding poppy seed, I use coffee grinder/dry grinder. Coarsely grind poppy seed in grinder. After grinding, take out the coarsely grounded poppy seed into a bowl and mix it with 3-4 tblsp. of water.

Heat oil in a pan, fry the pointed gourds for 2-3 minutes until light brown from all sides. Take them out. In the same pan, temper with black cumin seeds and slitted green chill. Immediately add poppy seed paste, turmeric and red chilli powder. Cook for 2-3 minutes stirring continuously so that it doesn't stick to the pan. Now add fried parwals/patols. Mix well with the spices.

Now pour about 1/3 cup of water. Add salt to taste. Remember, patol/parwal cooks very fast. When all moisture has evaporated and parwals are cooked, stir fry for 1-2 more minutes, then remove from heat.

Patol posto is ready to serve with hot steamed rice and dal..Enjoy...........